Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1887-12-02
a SURGEONS LIFE.
Page or Two From the Experience OF
Famous Physician.

suTGtOu III uo 10 ucSlltult, 6NoH III NOh
siderable degree, of the finer feelings o.
our nature. | have often lain awake fol
hours the night before an important
operation. and suffered great mental dis
tress for days after it was over, until
was certain that my patient was out OF
danger. do not think that it is pos
sible for criminal to feel much worse
the night before his execution than
surgeon when he knows that upon hi,
skill and attention must depend the
fate of valuable citizen, husband,
father mother or child. Surgery under
such circumstances is terrible task
master, feeding like vulture upon
mans vitals. 1t is surprising that any
surgeon in large practice should ever
attain to respectable old age, so great
are the wear and tear of mind and body.
The world has seen many u sad pict-
ure. will draw one of the surgeon.
1t is midday; the sun is bright and beau
tiful all nature is redolent Of joy; men
and women crowd the street, arrayed
in their best, and ALL apparently. is
peace and happiness within and with
out. In a large house. almost over.
hanging this street so full of life and
| gayety, lies upon couch an emaciated
figure, once one of the sweetest and
lovelest of her sex, confding and af
| fectionate wife, and tho adored mother
of numerous children, the subject of u
frightful disease of one of her limbs, or.
it may be, of her jaw, if not of a still
| more important part of her body. In
an adjoining room is the surgeon. with
his assistants. spreading out his instru-
ments and getting things in readiness
for the impending operation. He AS
signs to each his appropriate place.
| One administers chloroform; another
takes charge of the limb; one screws
down the tourniquet upon the principal
artery. and another holds himself in
readiness to follow the knife with the
sponge. The flaps are soon formed
the bone severed, the vessels tied, anu
the huge wound approximated. The
woman is pale and CHASTITY, the pulse
hardly perceptible, the skin wet with
clammy perspiration. the voice hushed,
the sight indistinct. Some one wills.
pers into the ear of the busy surgeon:
THE patient, fear, is dying" Re
storatives are administered, the pulse
gradually rises, and after fcw hour
of hard work and terrible anxiety reac.
ton occurs The poor woman was only
faint from the joint influence of the
anesthetic, shock and loss of blood. An
assistant, kind of sentinel, is placed
as u guard over her, with instructions
to watch her with the closest care, and
to send word the moment the slightest
change for the worse is perceived.
The surgeon goes about his business
, visits other patients on the way, and IA
length, long after the usual hour, ht
sits down, worried and exhausted. t.
his cold and comfortless meal, with i,
mouth almost as dry and a voice a,
. husky as his patients. He eats me-
chemically, exchanges hardly wore
with any member of his family. ant
{ sullenly retires to his study. to pre-
| scribe for his patients--never, durin!
f all this time, forgetting the poor mutt
q lated object he left few hours ago
9 He is about to lie down to get mo
. meut's repose after the severe toll 0
q the day, when suddenly he hears :
loud ring of the bell and servant
, GREATNESS with excitement, begs hi
l immediate presence at the sick chamber
with the exclamation: They thinl
6 Mrs. - is dying" He hurries to tn,
r scene with rapid pace and anxious feel
ing. The stump is of a crimson color
{ and the patient lies in profount
Y swoon. An artery has suddenly givel
= way. tile exhaustion is extreme; cor
1 dials and stimulants are at one,
n brought into requisition. the dressing,
are removed and the recusant vessel il
o promptly secured.
r The vital current Gibbs and flows. re
2 action is still more tardy than before
G and it is not until late hour of tn,
night that the surgeon, literally worI
r out in mind and body, retires to hi
i home in search of repose. Does HI
G sleep? He tries, but he can not clos,
t his eyes. His mind is with his patient
d he hears every footstep upon the pave
Q ment under his window. and is in mo
e mentary expectation of the ringing o
y the night-bell. He is disturbed by TIN
d widest fancies, he sees the most terrific
It objects. and, as he rises early in tn
4 morning to hasten to his patient
t chamber, he feels that he has beel
J. cheated of the rest of which he stoot
n so much in need. Is this picture over
drawn? | have sat for it thousan,
e times, and there is not an educated
!. conscientious surgeon that will not Ger
It tify to its accuracy.-A"to6iography o
IS the late DR.. Gross.
d Road building and road repair